#145-21 Telephone (617) 796-1120 Telefax (617) 796-1142 TDD/TTY City of Newton, Massachusetts (617) 796-1089 www.newtonma.gov Department of Planning and Development Ruthanne Fuller 1000 Commonwealth Avenue Newton, Massachusetts 02459 Barney S. Heath Mayor Director _____________________________________________________________________________________________ PUBLIC HEARING MEMORANDUM DATE: April 23, 2021 TO: Councilor Crossley, Chair Members of the Zoning and Planning Committee FROM: Barney Heath, Director of Planning and Development Jennifer Caira, Deputy Director of Planning and Development Zachery LeMel, Chief of Long Range Planning RE: #145-21 Request for Chapter 30 Amendment to establish regulations for gun establishments HER HONOR THE MAYOR AND COUNCILORS ALBRIGHT, KRINTZMAN, LEARY, OLIVER, GREENBERG, NORTON, LUCAS, KELLEY, WRIGHT, MALAKIE, MARKIEWICZ, GENTILE, DOWNS, CROSSLEY, HUMPHREY, DANBERG, NOEL, BOWMAN, LAREDO, GROSSMAN, BAKER, LIPOF, KALIS AND RYAN requesting amendments to the Newton Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 30, including, but not limited to, the addition of definitions of “Firearm” and “Firearm Businesses”, and amendments to Section 4.4.1 Allowed Uses and Section 6.10 Restricted Uses to regulate the use of land, structures and buildings for the siting and operation of gun ranges or the retail or wholesale operation involving gunsmithing, the purchase or sale of firearms, the sale of ammunition, or firearms accessories, and to restrict such uses to the Business 4, Mixed Use 1, Manufacturing, and Light Manufacturing Districts only and only upon the granting of a special permit, and to establish minimum standards and criteria for the granting of such special permits. MEETING DATE: April 26, 2021 CC: City Council Planning and Development Board Jonathan Yeo, Chief Operating Officer Alissa O. Giuliani, City Solicitor John Lojek, Commissioner of ISD #145-21 Page 2 of 8 Executive Summary The City of Newton does not currently regulate the zoning for firearms business (or related uses). A firearms business would be considered a general retail use and would be allowed either by-right or by special permit in most business and mixed-use zones as well as the limited manufacturing zoning district. The City Council has broad authority to regulate all land uses in Newton, including the location of firearms dealers. Currently, the zoning ordinance identifies certain uses that are to be treated differently than other retail uses such as adult businesses and marijuana retailers. However, due to Constitutional protections it may be reasonable to expect that the more restrictively firearm sales are regulated, the more likely such regulations will be subject to a court challenge. The subject docket item is a request to amend Newton’s current zoning ordinance to restrict firearm businesses only to certain zoning districts, to require a special permit, and to provide minimum standards for those uses. Attached to this memo is a draft zoning ordinance for firearms businesses developed by the Law and Planning Departments (Attachment A), a map of the proposed zoning districts for firearm businesses (Attachment B), as well as a frequently asked questions (FAQ) document from the Law Department (Attachment C). Staff reviewed a sampling of zoning ordinances and bylaws for firearm businesses from other municipalities both in and outside of Massachusetts. Zoning regulations for firearm businesses are not common and the only nearby communities that regulate firearms businesses through zoning that staff has found are Dedham and Westwood. The key elements of the proposed ordinance are limiting firearm businesses to the Business 4, Mixed Use 1, Limited Manufacturing, and Manufacturing zoning districts; always requiring a special permit; requiring buffers from sensitive uses; and applying additional operational standards and criteria for approval. The most complicated element is the buffer distances from sensitive uses. At this time the distances are left as to be determined in the draft ordinance. This is to allow flexibility for the Council in the ultimate decisions but is also to allow staff time to clean up our data and analyze potential buffer distances. Planning staff are working with the City’s GIS analyst to understand the data we have and ensure it is up to date and in the format that is needed. At the public hearing on May 10th Planning staff will provide recommendations for buffer distances as well as maps illustrating those buffers. Firearm Zoning Examples Staff reviewed a sampling of zoning ordinances for firearm businesses in other municipalities in Massachusetts and beyond. Almost all ordinances require special approval for firearm businesses (a special permit in Massachusetts or a conditional use permit elsewhere). Below is a summary of the key points from other ordinances: • Dedham, MA - Dedham recently passed a by-law regulating firearm sales. o Firearms businesses are limited to the Adult Use Overlay District Preserving the Past Planning for the Future #145-21 Page 3 of 8 o 150-foot buffer from a residential use or residential zoning district, school, library, church or other religious use, child-care facility, park, playground, recreational areas where large numbers of minors regularly travel or congregate, establishments selling alcohol for on-site consumption, and other adult use and firearms businesses. • Westwood, MA o Firearms/Explosives sales and service are limited to the Local Business Districts, Highway Business District and Industrial District o Westwood does not appear to require specific buffers between firearms businesses and other uses, however most uses in the Highway Business and Industrial districts are required to provide a buffer from adjacent residential properties. • Bloomington, MN – Bloomington regulates primary and incidental firearms sales and firing ranges. o Firearms sales are permitted in certain commercial districts; firing ranges are only permitted in some industrial districts. o 250-foot buffer from residential zoning districts, daycares, and k-12 schools. o Primary firearm sales must also be 1,000 feet from another primary firearm sales facility. • Piscataway, NJ o Firearm sales to certain commercial districts. o 1,000-foot buffer from nursery schools, preschools, child, adult and special needs day care centers, schools, colleges and universities, funeral homes, health services facilities, other firearms sales dealers, assisted living facilities, places of worship, liquor stores, establishments selling alcohol for onsite consumption, and parks, playgrounds and commercial recreational facilities. • Contra Costa, CA o 500-foot buffer from schools, daycares, parks, establishments that have on-site or off-site alcohol sales, places of worship, and existing firearm sales facilities. • Windsor, CA o 500-foot buffer from parks, libraries, churches, personal services, and preschools. o 1,000-foot buffer from all schools. • Healdsburg, CA o 500-foot buffer from churches, chapels, places of worship, schools, libraries, youth centers, commercial day care establishments, parks, and other locations with firearm sales. • McCordsville, IN o Firearm sales limited to a medium intensity industrial district. o 200-foot buffer zone from any school. • Worcester, MA – Worcester only regulates shooting ranges o 1,000-foot buffer from schools and a 100 foot buffer from a public park or playground. Worcester does not appear to regulate firearm sales. Preserving the Past Planning for the Future #145-21 Page 4 of 8 Notably, zoning regulations for firearm businesses are rare and we have found few examples in Massachusetts so far. Most of our neighboring communities do not appear to regulate firearm businesses through zoning. Staff reviewed zoning ordinances for the following Massachusetts communities: Acton, Arlington, Ashland, Bedford, Belmont, Beverly, Bolton, Boston, Boxborough, Braintree, Brockton, Burlington, Carlisle, Cambridge, Chatham, Chelsea, Concord, Danvers, Dedham, Dover, Essex, Everett, Fall River, Fitchburg, Framingham, Gloucester, Hamilton, Holliston, Hudson, Ipswich, Lexington, Lincoln, Littleton, Lynn, Lynnfield, Malden, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marblehead, Medfield, Medford, Medway, Melrose, Middleton, Milton, Nahant, Natick, Needham, North Reading, Norwood, Peabody, Quincy, Reading, Revere, Rockport, Salem, Saugus, Sherborn, Stoneham, Stoughton, Sudbury, Swampscott, Topsfield, Wakefield, Watertown, Waltham, Wellesley, Wenham, Weston, Westwood, Weymouth, Wilmington, Winchester, Winthrop, Woburn, and Worcester. Of these communities, the only ones that regulate firearms sales were Dedham and Westwood. Framingham excludes firing ranges from the definition of outdoor recreational facilities and North Reading prohibits gun and shooting clubs in their Highway Business zoning district. Everett appears to have regulated gun shops previously, but they are no longer included after a big rezoning in 2020. Ordinance Framework The proposed draft ordinance draws from firearms zoning regulations from other municipalities as well as the City’s existing ordinances regulating adult businesses and marijuana uses. The draft ordinance defines terms not currently included in our zoning ordinance, such as ammunition, firearm, firearm accessory, firearm business, firing range, and gunsmith and proposes that the uses only be permitted by special permit in certain districts. The ordinance also identifies sensitive uses from which a firearm business use should be buffered from, provides additional operational standards, includes